2018-February-Cupid's Nightmare-Rivellese-Report

[Vinnie]

Jedd and Lucas threw a great comp (and Jedd threw a gripper)!

About a year ago I went to my first grip comp, feeling awkward and green and wondering if I was being stupid even to go.  This one was my sixth, and I hope I can do at least 5 most years from now until I am older than Chris Rice!  Well, I mean, older than he is now.  Which for me is not as long as for most of you young'n's, although a little longer than it will be for Rindo.  Like a year or two.

So the events.

Silver bullet:  PR.  I was going to just do a good long hold on a 3, but the logic of beating everyone who uses a 3 by getting even a second on a 3.5, and the fact that Jedd had a relatively easy 3.5 (168), combined to persuade me to go for it.  I had never done a silver bullet with a 3.5 before, but I managed a little over 12 seconds, finishing behind giants Jedd and Eli, tied with giants Rindo and Frank, and ahead of may as well be giant Luke.  And yeah I know he was saving it for the LBH record attempt and all, but Luke holding back even on a bad day should still beat me, so I will file that small victory away with enjoy it while it lasts.  I do like grippers, but am not a SB guy and I didn't train it, so it was exciting to try the event and to surpass my personal goal, which was to hold onto it for just a second.

One hand 2 3/8" NN:  PR.  I don't really like rolling handles or thick bar, although one hand is better for me than two because I don't have the leg or core strength to max out two hand lifts to what my hands can hold onto.  Also, being short, I have some trouble with the cross bar height and sometimes have to stand on plates or other contraptions to make it.  So I managed to eke out 156, and I was pleased with it because it was more than half my 2" axle max and with a thicker bar.  See above re: need to work on core and legs lol.

Blockbuster pinch: PR.  I had the weight class record in this from Nate's comp a year ago, until Mr. Fleming yanked it handily from my clutches, and by quite a bit.  My record was 66 and that was my PR, but with Fleming up at 77, I was just hoping for a new PR for me.  I opened in the high 50s but it felt good and I made fair jumps, finding myself just making 72.5 for a 10% increase in my PR.  But, I was totally maxed out, and no shot at 77.  Wasn't gonna be close -- no way I could even have done 72 again.  Still, so happy with the unexpected new PR.

Two hand 2" NN: WR (in 83K weight class).  Well, we made a boo boo in training this.  We trained to lockout, not to cross bar, and just like having to pass a block through grippers takes 5-10% off my MMS close, negotiating the cross bar knocked me down from my workout weights and PR.  So having maxed at 385 in training (and that was a questionable lockout, too, so I did not expect to equal it at the comp anyway), I started much lower - 311 I think.  I had to stand on plates to reach the cross bar, and for my second attempt - 325 - I actually switched to platforms because the plates were slipping.  I made 325, which was lucky for me because the platform was so high it was almost like a DOH deadlift and I can't DOH deadlift that much.  Turned out that it was a weight class world record anyway, not because it is that heavy but because NN is relatively new and there haven't been many comps featuring it yet.  So I expect that this will fall soon, certainly to my future self (who will have learned his lesson and trained to cross bars), and even more certainly to a couple other guys I know who will decimate it lol.

Little Big Horn: PR.  My previous PR was at Nate's comp a year ago, where I got 157.  I started in the 140s but made it up to 161.  I was very happy with my PR, and even more happy for workout friend Anthony C., who did like 167.  He killed it.  And yeah, a while later Luke killed it more than just about anyone ever has and it is on video and to anyone who says no lift, I say, OK, show me lol.  Was great to see both those guys PR.

Oh, and the gripper throw:  Jedd apologized publicly and privately for slamming a gripper into a table after missing a world record attempt, which gripper caromed off the table and narrowly missed my head before denting the hard wall.  No need, my man.  Had it hit me there might have been a need lol, but I enjoy seeing the competitive spirit and passion in you and others who were at the comp.  Sometimes that passion leads people to act a bit impulsively in ways they might criticize in others.  I will not judge you or anyone else who did something like that at the comp, as I know you are all good people pushing yourselves to be the best you can.  If we all learn from the times we do such things (and seeing others do them), we will become better in spirit just as the drive makes our bodies better.  Bet you will never slam another gripper into a table at a comp again, at least not without stopping to assess the likely trajectory lol. 

Great, great comp, and super pleased with my performance against myself:  I won my weight class (of just me), and placed 6th out of 17 good guys and gals.  A pleasure and an honor to be in the middle of that respectable pack!

Until the next one,

Vinnie

Edited March 4, 2019 by Vinnie